CLEARWATER, Fla. — Comcast SportsNet in Philadelphia hired two of the foremost folk heroes in recent baseball history to call Phillies games in 2014. Now Jamie Moyer and Matt Stairs have spring training to learn the ropes.

The pair met the media Monday as they prepare to call the Phillies’ exhibition slate. They combine for nearly 44 seasons’ worth of Major League experience, and played together on the Phillies’ world championship team in 2008.

Moyer was a skinny lefty who pitched in the Majors until he was 49 thanks to an 85-mph fastball and a whole lot of guile. Stairs was a stocky Canadian slugger who spent much career in platoon and part-time roles and lasted until he was 43. And he interviewed for his new gig because he was in town for Buffalo wings.

“I was coming down for Wing Bowl,” Stairs said, referring to Philadelphia’s annual wing-eating contest. “And I happened to get a call a couple days before Wing Bowl happened. So I came down and did the interview. It went well, and everybody knows that Wing Bowl went well, so it was a good time.”

Stairs and Moyer both have on-air experience — Stairs at NESN, Moyer at ESPN — but neither has been a regular part of live game broadcasts. They’ll work over 100 games apiece in 2014 alongside play-by-play man Tom McCarthy.

“There’s going to be times where I stumble, but that’s the fun of it,” Moyer said. “Showing the human side is the important thing here.”

“I’m going to take care of the pitching, he’ll do the hitting,” Stairs joked of the 30 games they’ll call together.

Jamie Moyer (PHOTO: Ted S. Warren/AP Photo)

Moyer, who grew up in the Philadelphia area, emphasized his respect for the work of past Phillies broadcasters like the legendary Harry Kalas.

“For me, it’s about trying to educate about the game,” he said. “Using my education and my experience of the game, and trying to expand that with the fan base.”

Stairs joked that he prepared for the job for much of his career.

“In my years playing, I sat on the bench for nine years without playing,” he said. “That’s nine years of watching baseball, not getting into a game, just sitting there analyzing a game as a hitter, as a player. That’s basically going to be carrying over to the booth.

“That’s a big-ass splinter, nine years.”

Both ex-players stressed that their experience playing alongside several of the current Phillies won’t prevent them from pointing out mistakes on the field.

“I’m an honest person,” Stairs said. “If someone didn’t play the game right, you called them out in the locker room. I’m not going to embarrass a guy on the air; but that’s what Philly wants to hear, they want to hear the truth.”

CLEARWATER, Fla. — Comcast SportsNet in Philadelphia hired two of the foremost folk heroes in recent baseball history to call (…)

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